With out a doubt, the mockup stage is one of the more tedious, yet rewarding stages of restoration. The time you take in making sure that everything fits exactly as it's suppose to will pay off BIG in your final product. This is the stage where you will hang your doors, fenders, hood, put subframe under, motor/tranny in, other components and modifications you intend to include. Putting it all together now will allow you the time and freedom to make any corrections, adjustments, and modifications BEFORE it goes to paint. That's right. We are going to put the car together, so we can disassemble it again, to send it to paint, so we can put it back together again.

As in the previous chapter, the subframe went under very nice. The motor and Richmond 6-speed set right into place with no problems. I then placed the Classic Air unit back into position to see how it fit with the motor in. The two heater lines are coming through the firewall right behind the right head, so I will have to put an angle fitting on them. I'm not sure what I will use just yet. I will have to address that later.

The new radiator support frame went on nicely, plus the new BeCool polished radiator with twin 11" fans mounted in great. The battery tray will fit as original, but I will have to relocate the regulator.

All of this will be done after I get the front fenders on plus the inner fender wells. I want to see exactly what room I have and how I can relocate things.

It is only smart to start with the doors and get them hung. Once I got the right door into place and the lines looked good, I drilled a 1/8" hole through the hinges into the body. This is a way to mark them so when youtake them off, you will have something to show you where they need to be when you hang them again. Slight adjustments may be needed, but it really will save you time, and possibly your doors paint job.

Next went on the right fender. It was not too bad, but like all sheet metal, it took some coaxing. Try to remember how it went on. A good practice is to document how the door went on, the fender, and any other sheet metal. Write it down, so when it comes back from paint, you will have a reference for what you had to do during mockup.

check back often. I will post more as the mockup continues.

O.K., now I'm back with a little more progress. It is really getting exciting to see the car taking shape, and it's a real motivator. In the first pic you will see a string taped to the side of the car. I used this to help with the body lines. Start at one fender, then run it along the side body line to the other fender and tape it solid. This is going to help you get a good visual of how your door and rear quarter is lining up, plus how the door and front fender is lining up.

I need to input here that when you hang the front fenders, don't get real carried away with their lines just yet. Get them close, but you will want to get both sides on, then lay the hood into place. This could change everything you did on the fenders, or you could be lucky and not have to change the fenders much. Bottom line here is, the hood lines are the most important and you may have to adjust the fenders for the hood.

I put the bottom windshield molding on and the cowl vent panel, then put the fenders on, then the hood. Always take a minute and walk to the back and to the front of the car and look down each side to assess the lines the car is taking on. Make sure they are straight and where they should be.

More coming soon! It's time to get jazzed about this project because paint is not far off!

Hope yours is coming along as well or better!

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